a debt ceiling deal, the obama administration proposed what was known at the time as a compulsory trigger to force spending cuts if both sides couldn't agree on a deficit reduction plan. it was meant to be so awful that no one would let it happen. hill republicans essential signed off. the president signed it. both sides guessed these automatic across the board spending cuts we've now come to know as sequestration. the new deadline for the cuts is the end of the month. and there is no deal to stop it. we keep hearing how bad it will be. one day a weak furloughs for up to 800,000 civilian pentagon employees. friday the navy is expected to announce it will postpone the repair of almost two dozen ships, threatening tens of thousands of jobs in virginia alone. and those repairs? >> if we don't do that, we are sending a ship out in harm's way that may not be as fit to fate as it should be. >> so here's how we avoid it. >> reporter: virginia's tim kaine is among senate democrats proposing an alternative, a $120 billion deficit reduction plan half in spending cuts split between defense and non-